Quad bike safety motion

Northern Victoria quad bike safety proponent Emily Cason said the Federal Government's proposed laws to make rollover protection for new quad bikes mandatory is only the first step.Mrs Cason, from Nathalia, has been pushing for change for six years since the death of her son, Sam, in a quad bike accident.

She said only applying roll bars to new quad bikes wasn't enough and they should be the standard for all bikes, along with helmets and an age restriction of above 16 years for riders."Roll bars are a good step but they're not enough,” she said."I hope that if it happens more safety is implemented such as safety star ratings on bikes.

“I hope it's the first step once they're proven to be safe and that it will become the norm.

“I don't want bikes to be removed completely.”

In response to the proposed law, manufacturers are threatening to pull out of the Australian market. In the past, these bodies have pushed for assessments of the suggested safety measures.

Mrs Cason said she questioned the weight that manufacturers like Yamaha and Honda had on the decision.

“I think it's an empty threat,” she said."Manufacturers might leave and I don't know how that will affect jobs.

“I understand how hard it is to change but if you look at cars, safety is always being improved."

Continuing accidents are what drive Mrs Cason to continue campaigning for change.

“I'm trying to bring awareness on how dangerous they are and applaud the government in trying to take action,” she said. "I'd love there to be no deaths on quad bikes."

The push for a change in laws has been driven by the ACCC and the National Farmers' Federation.